Staff Sgt. Robert M. Devitto remembered for leadership, humor

Friday

Jan 4, 2013 at 12:00 PM

Two communities 400 miles apart are mourning Devitto's death, the 2005 James Buchanan High School graduate who died of gunshot wounds in Raleigh, N.C., on Dec. 21. Lee County, N.C., police are investigating his death as a homicide.

Colleen Seidel/The Record Herald

Two communities 400 miles apart are mourning the death of Staff Sgt. Robert M. Devitto, the 2005 James Buchanan High School graduate died of gunshot wounds at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh, N.C., on Dec. 21.

Lee County, N.C., police are investigating his death as a homicide.

Devitto, who was an active duty soldier with the U.S. Army stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., went duck hunting on state gamelands with his dog, Mayhem, around 4 p.m. on Dec. 18. When he did not return a few hours later, his wife, Jaimi (Sherrill) Devitto, notified friends and police.

Friends found Devitto on the hunting grounds, incapacitated by gunshot wounds to his head and chest. He was transported to a hospital in Raleigh where he was put on life support but was taken off the apparatus and died on Dec. 21. Devitto was 26 years old.

“He was a very outgoing, fun-loving, very caring guy who would do anything for you,” said family friend Steve Cotton, who lives in Montgomery Township.

Cotton’s son Joshua and Devitto were best friends, football teammates and fellow graduates of James Buchanan High School.

A soldier’s soldier

“Robert loved the Army,” Cotton said.

Devitto, who enlisted in the Army on July 12, 2005, shortly after his high school graduation, had recently earned the rank of staff sergeant and completed combatives training, an accomplishment he was proud of, according to Cotton.

He served two combat tours overseas, the first in Iraq from March 2008 to March 2009 and the second in Afghanistan from July 2010 to June 2011. He also served a tour in Korea.

Devitto’s official military bio released by Fort Bragg said that “his outstanding performance, inspirational leadership and sense of humor resulted in marked improvements in morale ... everywhere he served.”

His commander, Lt. Col. Eric Crider, said that Devitto’s death is “a devastation to his fellow soldiers in the squadron. We will all miss his amazing leadership and his uplifting spirit.”

“He was doing extremely well. To make E6 (staff sergeant) by the time he was 26 speaks volumes to the kind of person he was,” Cotton added.

Family man, friend

Devitto married his James Buchanan classmate, Jaimi, in 2007, and the couple lived together in Fort Bragg. Jaimi serves in the U.S. Army Reserves and has completed two tours in Afghanistan.

It was Jaimi who made the decision to have Devitto buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Cotton said. The ceremony, with full military honors, will occur on Jan. 9.

“He was a great husband, a good family man,” Cotton added.

He shared an anecdote about the way that Devitto’s dog, Mayhem, a German shorthaired pointer, got his name.

“He was watching TV, those insurance commercials about mayhem, and he said that would be a good name for his puppy.”

Cotton said that Devitto would come visit him and his wife, Denise, when he was on leave, even if their son Joshua was not at home. They took boating and golf trips and went to Hersheypark.

The Cottons traveled down to North Carolina to be with Jaimi while Devitto was in the hospital, Cotton said.

“It was extremely difficult. Coming back without him was even more difficult.”

Homicide investigation

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office announced on Dec. 21 that it was investigating Devitto’s death as a homicide.

Investigators believe there were two other vehicles parked to the left of Devitto’s red Chevrolet truck on Dec. 18 and have been offering a cash reward for any information regarding the case, according to a press release.

Cotton said that he was contacted by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office with a sketch of “somebody they’re trying to talk to.”

He said that police had located one of the vehicles at the scene and its owner. Through that person they put together information on the second vehicle, Cotton added.

“I think it’s been fairly well reported down that way that they think it was intentional,” he said of Devitto’s death. He added that police believe the person they are looking for did not know Devitto.

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